G Hopf - The End

“If Melissa wants to go, I’ll take her but that’s it. Everyone needs to have their own vehicle and food. We don’t have enough of our own supplies to go around and feed a large convoy of people.”

“I hear what you’re saying, but there are some good people here who don’t have what you deem necessary but would be an asset.”

“I don’t care, Jimmy; they’re not coming unless they have the supplies to take care of themselves,” Gordon said sternly.

“You’re jaded. You have always been a bit rough around the edges; I suppose that came from the war.”

“You keep bringing that up. Let me explain to you why I’m not here to take care of everyone. I was once idealistic and believed in taking care of everyone who couldn’t take care of themselves. I took this blind idealism with me when I dropped out of college and joined the Marine Corps after 9/11. I thought it was my generations’ calling to support this country and to promote freedom. I left everything behind and went to war. I did the best I could over there and the thanks I received from many in this country was ridicule and hatred. I was used as a political pawn after an incident in Fallujah by those who looked down on me. I was over there risking my life to bring freedom to a people who don’t understand it and now hate us. I risked my life to protect the freedoms that many take for granted here. I ended up being the poster child for everything wrong with our war in Iraq. I was headline news when they accused me of murder, but when I was acquitted that never made the news. So, yes, I am jaded! I don’t believe that it’s my responsibility to help everyone anymore. I only have the moral responsibility to take care of my family and loved ones. I have lived a life believing that it’s a man’s responsibility to have the tools to ensure his family is safe and secure. Some men didn’t think that was necessary, they thought owning dozens of expensive watches and designer jeans were more important than having a gun or even a damn knife. If people didn’t take the time to prepare because they thought that was someone else’s responsibility, well, my friend, they can now figure it out. I don’t have the time nor do I care. It’s already hard enough for us to survive without having to sacrifice my resources for others,” Gordon exclaimed, his face flush.

Jimmy just stood there looking at him, not knowing how to respond. He knew he had struck a nerve with Gordon and didn’t want to get him further upset.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to get you upset. We’ve all had a lot to deal with, some more than others. Let’s get working on this plan, okay?”

Gordon wanted to get moving, so he nodded and said, “Okay, let’s get this done and get out of here.”

USS Makin Island , Pacific Ocean

Barone had called an emergency meeting with all of his commanders to discuss the landing in California. The ships were close, and based upon the intelligence from their reconnaissance forces he had a better idea about how the entire operation should proceed.

He had not been himself since his son’s death. What little sense of humor and kindness he had was now shut down. He had become hard and unforgiving. He poured himself into ensuring nothing else could go wrong, he became hyper focused on getting his men to California. The preparations for the landing consumed most of his waking hours. The only other thing that frequented his thoughts was how he would tell his wife about Billy’s death. He dreaded that future date when he would stand in front of her. The promise he had made to her years ago was now broken. He had promised that he would do what he could to ensure Billy was always safe. While it was an unrealistic promise, he had made it. It was the reality of his death that made the promise feel truly broken. Billy had been under his command, so he could have prevented it. The guilt he felt ran deep inside him, and what came out of him wasn’t depression anymore but anger. He was angry at himself for not monitoring the flight plan more carefully and he was angry that the battle between them and the USS New Orleans even had to take place.

The vibe and feel on the ship had changed; everyone was careful about what they said and no one made any mistakes. The word given to them from their unit commanders was that the colonel would not accept mediocrity. If anyone wished to change their mind, then they would be arrested and locked up. No more excuses, no more complaining, each and every Marine and sailor had a job to do and it was expected they do it.

As unit commanders walked into the briefing room, Barone looked at each one. No one said a word to each other, very few looked directly at Barone; there was no small talk. Everyone took a seat quickly in the small room. The seats were set in a series of six rows all facing forward toward a map and screen.

Barone looked down at his watch and then looked at the men assembled before him. By his count, all were present.

“Gentlemen, I called this emergency briefing to cover our plan for landing in California. We have had reconnaissance teams going into Southern California for three days now. The intel they have brought back has given critical information for us to draft the plan I am about to detail. However, before I go into this plan I want to set rules for this briefing. I will not take questions as I go, once I have explained everything I will then open the floor for any questions you may have. Is that understood?”

In a chorus, all the men responded by saying, “Yes, sir.”

“Great, let me start by covering the ground truth of what is happening in Southern California. Our teams went to these locations,” Barone turned around and pointed to a map that showed Southern California. “Coronado, 32 ndStreet Naval Base, Point Loma and Camp Pendleton. They reached them safely. They were able to make liaison with the base commanders except for Camp Pendleton. I’m not going to break down what each base commander told us but will jumble it all together as a lot of the information is similar. They report that all electronics were down, no vehicles except older vehicles were operating, aircraft, ships and the entire power grid is down. Each commander has been feeding their personnel on stockpiled MRE’s after they had consumed what food rations they had left in their specific mess halls. They also expressed that they have had trouble with some of their personnel going UA. They have been operating at a lockdown and not allowing civilians onto the base unless they were family members of personnel. They have been monitoring the situation on the outside and report that mass deaths are starting to occur from dehydration, starvation and civil unrest. They have reported roving gangs taking advantage of the situation. The city has descended into chaos gentlemen, there is no law enforcement and there are rumors that the mayor of San Diego has fled the city. They did tell us that they have been receiving communication from the US government now headquartered in an undisclosed location via the SIPRNet, or in layman’s terms the government’s own secret Internet. The Federal government has promised that they soon will be sending supplies, but to date they have received nothing. There are two pieces of confirmed intel that we received that changed our plans from what I had first detailed a few weeks ago. We will not be staying in Southern California. We will only be landing to go retrieve our families and can only stay for a week. After that, we must depart and head north. The reason for this change in plan is because the San Onofre nuclear plant is in full meltdown and radiation has contaminated an area about 10 square miles. Most personnel at Camp Pendleton have evacuated and moved east to 29 Palms. Our teams there met with a few Marines who were remaining from the I MEF command element. The other situation we have is a former Mexican drug cartel has moved into the area. They are expanding quickly across the county. According to reports from Coronado and the few elements left at Camp Pendleton, the cartel’s numbers are growing and they are well-armed. So here is what we are going to be doing: We will conduct an amphibious landing on the beaches of Camp Del Mar here. We will set up a presence at the camp and will operate out of there for a week’s time. We will also conduct a simultaneous operation a day later on Coronado Island. There, those sailors who have families in and around San Diego can go get them. By now you have compiled a list of which Marines or sailors will be going onshore to find their families. We will set up a rotation so that everyone has a 24-hour period to go locate and bring back those family members. We want them to bring back what resources they may have. Those resources are on the list that Simpson is handing out now. We will not be allowing personal possessions such as furniture, trinkets etc. Understood?” Barone looked around and seeing nods of assent finished his briefing, “Gentlemen, this mission will be tough, as not all those looking for loved ones will find them, I fully expect to lose some people to possible fighting and to those who will decide to go UA and not return. I want a full count of your men now and upon departure a week later. Where we have openings, I will fill with them with Marines and sailors who wish to join us from Camp Pendleton and the other bases I mentioned earlier. I do understand that the amount of time we are now giving is not a lot, but with the realities on the ground specifically from San Onofre we cannot stay here. Those going ashore at Camp Del Mar will do so in full MOP gear. We will begin operations at 0530 January 6 th. Please have those lists updated so we know who needs to go ashore. We do not want anyone going ashore who wants a joy ride; this is not a liberty port. Tell your men this is now hostile territory and to expect hostile contact. The ROE’s for this mission are every Marine and sailor going ashore will have weapons and ammo, they will return fire if fired upon and if they see an incident where they can defend innocents then they can engage the hostiles. Now I can take questions.”